B2
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Saturday, April 2, 2022
Nora Yoshioka, of Pendleton High School, plays Baker’s
Isabel Cunningham on Thursday, March 31, 2022. She won at
No. 2 doubles in the nonleague tennis match.
Photos by Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Olivia Corbett, of Pendleton High School, plays Baker’s Sarah Plummer on Thursday, March 31, 2022. Corbett won 6-2, as
Pendleton cruised to a 6-1 victory over Baker in the nonleague tennis match.
SPORTS SHOTS
Gage Hill, of Pilot Rock, fields a
long fly ball Tuesday, March 29,
2022, while playing Heppner. The
Pilot Rock Rockets lost to Heppner
Mustangs 15-3.
Heppner’s Toby Nation slides into to home plate under the Pilot Rock catcher on
Tuesday, March 29, 2022. Heppner won 15-3.
Heppner’s Ryan Lindsey sprints to home plate while playing
Pilot Rock on Tuesday, March 29, 2022. Heppner prevailed 15-3.
Memories:
Continued from Page B1
is the creel has fallen into
disrepair. It’s not so much I
ignore it when I pack my fly
rod and vest, but why strap
on a bulky creel in a catch-
and-release world? Not
to mention the occasional
raised eyebrow when some-
one senses my goal is to fill
a frying pan with a brace
of trout And, if and when I
decide to keep a small trout
for breakfast, it’s easy to
slip the fish into the inside
pocket of my fly vest.
The metal catch to the
creel’s lid is missing and
a “rolled” strip of leather
designed to secure the shoul-
der strap has worn in two.
There’s a small gap across
the front where strands of
willow have worked loose. A
quick inventory of required
components shows the need
for 6 inches of leather to
replace the worn handle,
Anderson:
Continued from Page B1
“I’m really glad we have a
full season this year,” Ander-
son said. “It’s the first normal
season since my freshman
year. I like that we had the
opportunity to have a full
season.”
While it’s track season
right now, Anderson admit-
ted that cross-country is his
favorite of the two sports.
“You get a whole summer
of training before your
season,” Anderson said of
cross-country. “You are
working toward something.
You have the same race over
and over so you can compare
your times. On the track, it’s
harder to see how you have
improved and how you can
improve in the next meet.
And, I like training in the
summer more than in the
winter. It’s too cold.”
Anderson experienced
that cold when he and his
older brother Greg celebrated
the new year in January by
running in the Resolution
Run in Hermiston.
“It was like negative-10
and my eyelashes were
frozen,” Anderson said. “It’s
fun to run with my brother.
He’s back for spring break
Dennis Dauble/Contributed Photo
Dennis Dauble/Contributed Photo
Grandpa Harry’s restored fish box, wading stick, and fly rod
are ready for action by the front steps of the family cabin.
Brother Dusty casts into the tongue of the river’s current,
hoping to hook a trout that he can slip into his willow creel.
12 inches of half-inch wide
strapping for buckling the
shoulder harness, and 2 feet
of strap leather to secure the
creel around my waist. The
brass buckles have patina
and can be reused.
I’ve fashioned several
personal objects from
leather: cowhide belts,
deer skin moccasins, and
a leather scabbard for an
8-inch hunting knife — to
name a few. I once built a
western-style coffee table
covered with cowhide
scraps; each piece care-
fully cut to match. Restor-
ing Grandpa’s creel to
good working condition is
a welcome challenge. Cut
leather to proper width and
length, punch holes, attach
snaps and rivets. That I can
do.
The first order of business
is to rub a liberal amount
of Neatsfoot oil into badly
cracked leather trim. I order
a replacement shoulder strap
with correct dimensions
($35 plus $10 shipping) from
a fly shop in Wyoming. The
right now. It’s fun to run with
him even though he’s still a
little faster than me.”
Greg Anderson is a soph-
omore at Whitworth Univer-
sity in Spokane. He runs the
steeple chase and 5K for the
Pirates’ track team.
This past fall, Hermis-
ton won the Mid-Colum-
bia Conference 3A district
cross-country title. Ander-
son finished 11th at the MCC
district meet, and 42nd at the
3A District 8 Championships
in a time of 18:08.10.
“There are always kids
better than me,” Anderson
said. “I challenge myself and
go after them. There is always
room to improve. This past
summer I ran a little over
500 miles. I’m chasing after
(teammates) Jaysen (Rodri-
guez) and Logan (Spring-
stead).”
His personal best over
5,000 meters is 17:38.80,
which he ran as a junior at the
MCC championships.
“He had a down fall and
we were trying to figure
things out,” Blackburn said.
“At the beginning of the
season, he was right up where
we expected him to be. He
went into a lifting class and
we think his legs were tired.
He wasn’t used to running and
lifting. Runners aren’t heavy
lifters like football players.”
Now that track season
has rolled around, Anderson
has found a balance between
running and lifting, and his
times are evident of that.
“He is figuring it out in
track, he already got a PR in
the 1,600 (4:58.05),” Black-
burn said. “We are excited
and hopeful he will keep on
getting better. He’s still doing
the weights, it’s about finding
a balance. He’s doing some
lighter squats. We work our
legs a lot.”
While getting out of
District 8 (Mid-Colum-
bia Conference and Greater
Spokane League) to get to
state is no easy task, Ander-
son said he is working toward
that goal.
“If I can, that would be
awesome,” Anderson said.
“I don’t think I will get to
state, but however far I get,
that will be great. I’m just
trying to see how good I can
do this season. One step at
a time.”
Rodriguez and Spring-
stead have been at the top of
the pack for the Bulldogs on
the cross-country course and
on the track, but Anderson
brings a quality that can’t be
coached.
“He has been one of our
leaders,” Blackburn said. “We
will miss him. It will be hard
to fill that leadership role.”
brass buckle and tongue
piece are salvaged from the
original shoulder strap and
a rear handle is fashioned
from a short piece of rolled
cowhide. The circa 1940
metal studs still function
as if new. While not muse-
um-quality, Grandpa’s creel
is ready for action.
The old fish basket is
a basket of memories, a
keeper of faith, a vessel of
my hopes and dreams. With
stream trout season soon
in my headlights, I long to
hike up a fern-shrouded
trail, inhale the honey
sweet fragrance of mock
orange and watch butter-
flies flutter around a trail-
side seep. I want to place a
Royal Coachman Bucktail
(Grandpa Harry’s favorite
pattern) where moss-cov-
ered boulders split the rush
of swift current, set the hook
on a pan-size “keeper,”
and shove it through the
square opening of the creel’s
lid. The steady beat of the
trout’s tail against the inside
willow weave is sure to
leave a sweet fragrance as a
reminder of days gone by.
———
Dennis Dauble is the
author of “Bury Me with My
Fly Rod” and the recently
released, “Chasing Ghost
Trout.” Contact him via his
website at DennisDauble-
Books.com.